What to Do If You Get a Phishing Text

Don't take the bait.

You’re alerted to a new text, and an urgent warning from your bank or credit card pops up on your screen. “Your account has been locked! Click here to resolve the issue immediately!"

Take another look. It could be a phishing attack, designed to trick or scare you into revealing private information or installing dangerous software on your device.

Citadel takes protecting your confidential information seriously and will never ask for your personal information via email or text message. Do not respond to these messages, click on links, or download attachments. As a reminder, Citadel will never call or text you to ask for account numbers, social security numbers, or addresses. Please report any phishing attempts to Citadel Member Care at (800) 666-0191.

What to do if you get a phishing text

The urgent tone of the text is intended to get you to respond immediately, before you take time to evaluate it. Avoid the impulse and instead, stop and think before taking action. Waiting a few minutes isn't going to jeopardize your accounts. But quickly responding to a phishing text out of habit could trigger a disaster. Ask yourself:

• Do I know the sender?
• Could I call them to verify the text?
• Was I expecting a message like this?
• Is this an appropriate way for a business to reach me about my personal account?
• If this was so urgent, why are they sending a threatening text?
• Is there a legitimate reason they would need me to respond quickly?

Most legitimate companies wouldn’t use a text message to let you know there’s something wrong with your account or request personal information. The best response is to contact the sending institution directly to confirm that it sent the text, and then delete the message or your phone may have an option to filter and block messages from unknown senders or spam. You may also want to notify other family members to watch for the phony text.

For more information on how to identify, report, and block a variety of text phishing scams, visit the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for additional tips to  stay protected.